Two Ear and One Handle Large Jar with Human Figures The Painted Pottery of the Machang Culture 马厂文化彩陶

The Machang culture is dated to 2453 to 2032 BC. It is unusual for archaeologists to give odd dates during the Neolithic era. Usually dates are rounded and there are lots of notes that it is an approximate timeline. There isn't a particular war or coronation that you can use to date the beginning or end of a culture during the Neolithic. Cultures fade or change gradually. Most markers are arbitrary and it is usually a case of "give or take a hundred years or so".

The Machang culture is an outgrowth of the Banshan culture along the Yellow River. You will see that there is increased detail in the designs and the addition of human figures. The jar above has an abstraction of the human figure that, while lacking heads, is clearly human features incorporated into a circle and triangle design.